Sooba
Sooba is Cale'anon Vatay's female panther companion, originally being taken care of by Shora, until Cale'anon left the Beacon of Hope. History 'Book 13 Flashback' on the cover art for Book 13.]]Sooba was raised a pet of Shora's family, but both Shora's and Sooba's entire families were slain when a group of bandits raided the countryside. A young Cale'anon tried to help them, but was defeated by the bandits. Fortunately, one of the bandits turned on the others, and Shora and Sooba were both adopted into Cale'anon's home, the Beacon of Hope. Sooba quickly took a liking to Cale'anon, and remained there with the other elves for many years, until one day, when Shora was caught kissing with one of Cale'anon's fellow pupils, and Cale'anon left the monastery in sorrow. Shora was then killed by Cale'anon's master, and Sooba thus became Cale'anon's permanent companion on his adventures. 'Book 1' tavern, attacking Cale instead of his enemies, during her first appearance.]] When Cale'anon eventually had found his way to the Nestorep tavern, fighting by Richard and Benn'joon's side, against Temmet Aelloon of the King's Legion, he called for Sooba to aid him. The panther companion broke through the window and landed by his side, but then jumped on the elf instead of helping him in battle. They only won and successfully escaped because of Richard using his magic to turn Aelloon's men into mindless skeleton servants of his. Sooba followed them into the nearby forest, where they were found by and imprisoned in the claws of a Dragon of the Legion. However, Krunch came to their rescue, tackling the dragon and freeing Benn'joon's new friends. They fled the other dragons running toward the nearby mountain - Richard surprisingly riding on Sooba's back. They entered the mountain, and discovered the gnome city of Mechastone. At first, they battled the city guards, but Cale'anon managed to negotiate a peaceful solution, having them join the Mechastone Defense Force and help the gnomes kill their enemy, Lord Stoll, and in return the information on the whereabouts of the Sword of Truth. Sooba would not appear for a little while, until the final battle between the Mechastone Defense Force and the troll army where Richard summoned her with the Fork of Truth, to battle the troll shamans. The battle was won, and the group was given what they were promised. [[Book 2|'Book 2']] In their search for the Sword of Truth the party eventually made camp in the abandoned ruins of Gamlon. Unknown to Cale'anon, Richard had been killing all bears on the way for a month, preventing Cale from supplying his animal companion with meat. In order to survive, the panther feeded on grubs and other insects and as a result Krunch noted its increasingly bad smell. After four days in Gamlon Cale and Sooba met the Shriek who took Cale'anon a trip to the distant past. Sooba remained with the others for a few days where they defended their camp from Vulii bandits, until Cale returned and they finished the job together. With the newly acclaimed swords of Tavor providing them with a map to the forgotten city of Kethenecia, the party soon headed to the port of Tyne. Here, they hired the crew of ''The Father's Bones'' to transport them across the sea. After a short battle with a Legion warship they landed on a shore in the Ketten Wastelands. They trekked through the desert and faced a powerful sand dragon whose defeat reopened the hidden road to Kethenecia. [[Book 3|'Book 3']] Inside Kethenecia they met Tavor who helped convince Richard to open a portal to the city's past. Traveling through time they passed the Keeper of the Way and reached a small village called Bertu 3000 years in the past. Having used up all of his powers in opening the portal, the party decided to leave Richard to rest with Sooba keeping guard over his body, while the others continued their journey for the Sword of Truth. However, soon after they had left, the warlock woke up and begun a masacre in Bertu. Sooba followed Richard as he met up with the others and shared in their journey into the underground areas of the city, with the local Pella of clan Breem leading the way. Below the city they met the Guardians of Eight just in time as an invading army reached their location. Cale lead Sooba and the others as they fought the first wave alongside the Guardians and then hurried further down the underground to reach the Anchor. Cale'anon killed the Anchor and Sooba was at that moment teleported back into the present day with the others. [[Book 4|'Book 4']] ... Sooba Quotes * You think you know me.You think you know what I am. What I am capable of. You know nothing. I am grace. I am beauty. I am death. I am the hunter. You think you know me? You- (sees Richard) Bone, Bone, Bone, Bone * ''(after killing a soldier Cale wasn't finished interrogating) ''Interrogations are hard. Trivia * Sooba is one of a handful of characters to have a unique dialogue box, the others are Richard, Hctib Ettil, Tim, The Phares, The Keeper of the Way, and the Guardians of Eight. * Sooba shares many similarities with Guenhwyvar, Drizzt's panther companion. However, unlike Guenhwyvar, Sooba is not a creature of magic as she has no trouble maiming a group of shamans who could not be harmed by any being of magic. * Sooba, when summoned by name, is able to appear at the fray within seconds, whether or not she was anywhere in sight (even in a panoramic view of the battlefield) prior to being called. This is likely a reference to hunters summoning their pets in World of Warcraft (it should be noted that hunter pets in World of Warcraft phase into existence at the side of their master instead of physically moving themselves like Sooba does). * While Sooba is a powerful fighter, it is unclear whether or not Sooba has sentience or higher intelligence, but she clearly understands verbal orders. Ironically, Sooba has a strong liking for Richard. She has also served as a mount for Richard in at least one comic. Richard has apparently reciprocated in this regard, even cleaning up after the feline. Cale'anon has been unaware of Sooba being female for majority of the comic series, and has been shown to get angry outbursts when referred to as a boy. On the other hand, Sooba was also not aware that Cale is in fact male, before Richard told her. See also *Sooba appearances Category:Characters